The Indigenous Peoples policy of the GCF [1] has been adopted in 2018 in response to concerns and proposals made by indigenous peoples organizations with the support of civil society organizations that were urging the Fund to adopt a policy in order to avoid any negative impact of supported activities and project supported on the rights of indigenous peoples and to compensate for any unavoidable damage IP might suffer. The other goal of the policy is to ensure that indigenous peoples are fully and effectively engaged and consulted at all levels, when developing GCF policies, projects and programs and can benefit from GCF activities and projects in a “culturally appropriate manner”.
The relevance of Indigenous peoples in climate change policies and actions has been repeatedly stressed at the UNFCCC, and in the Paris Agreement. It is also embedded in the governing principles of the Green Climate Fund, that explicitly recognizes that indigenous peoples should be engaged and participate, together with other stakeholders in the design, development and implementation of the strategies and activities to be financed by the Fund. [2]
The Policy is therefore meant to be an instrument to ensure respect of IPs rights, culture, lifestyle and livelihoods across all GCF activities. In particular, the Policy aims to support the full respect of rights, identity, culture and natural resource-based livelihoods and territorial management in accordance to applicable international and regional instruments such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ILO 169.
It would also enable IPs to be fully informed and consulted on projects that might have impact on indigenous peoples’ lands, to avoid negative impacts and to take into consideration the situation of women. To a minor extent, the policy is designed to ensure the positive contribution and leadership of indigenous peoples to climate change policies, programs and projects, through their knowledge, livelihoods and resource management systems.
Indigenous peoples will therefore expect that the policy contributes to promote and respect their rights to own, use and control land territories and resources that you possess as traditional owners or according to other traditional occupation and use. Your right to culture and knowledge, traditional practices, cultural and spiritual heritage, and customary institutions should also be fully respected in all GCF-financed activities. Full and effective consultation and Free Prior Informed Consent by indigenous peoples as well as equitable access to benefits of activities funded by the GCF should also be ensured. Indigenous peoples will have the possibility of accessing a set of various grievance mechanism to seek redress and compensation in case of impacts caused by the lack of respect of the policy.
The policy’s relevance and the importance of ensuring its implementation is evident for an institution like the GCF that is one of the main international finance institutions to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and of adaptation and mitigation projects and programs in developing countries.
As a matter of fact, the GCF has already funded and intends to step up funding projects that could offer opportunities but also pose potential risks for indigenous peoples and for the integrity of the ecosystems and ecosystem cycles they depend upon, such as forest conservation, REDD+ and Results-Based-Payments, ecosystem management and conservation, renewable energy, climate smart agriculture, and livelihoods.
This toolkit is therefore meant to offer a simple instrument to understand the opportunities and challenges that the Indigenous Peoples policy implementation carries with it, and to fully assess the extent to which indigenous peoples’ rights are being respected by the various actors involved in all stages of GCF-funded activities. [3]
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[1] the full text of the Indigenous Peoples policy of the Green Climate Fund can be downloaded at this link: https://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/574763/GCF_policy_-_Indigenous_Peoples_Policy.pdf/6af04791-f88e-4c8a-8115-32315a3e4042
For a Spanish version: https://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/574763/GCF_Policy_-_Pol_tica_de_pueblos_ind_genas.pdf/07e064a9-9a5a-f5ec-568b-1640f29deff0
[2] https://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/1246728/Governing_Instrument.pdf/caa6ce45-cd54-4ab0-9e37-fb637a9c6235
[3] For a general toolkit on how the GCF works, and how CSOs can engage see: http://www.germanwatch.org/sites/germanwatch.org/files/Toolkit_Engaging%20with%20the%20Green%20Climate%20Fund.pdf. Another useful took to monitor GCF activities is https://www.gcfwatch.org